Aircraft Maintenace Mechanic at BAE Systems

1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

10/10

In my apprenticeship my role is aircraft maintenance mechanic. This puts me on the frontline of maintenance of fast jet aircraft for our customers the RAF, within my role I am a part of the mechanical trade which usually consists of me working with the flying controls, the hydraulic system and other major assemblies.

My responsibility in my workplace is incredibly high as its not just my safety on the line if i'm carless, its everyone around me and the operators of the aircraft which are all at risk if I do not carry out my job correctly.

2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

8/10

My job has taught me a wide variety of skills most of which I would be using in my day to day experiences working in this environment. Along with the qualification from the apprenticeship we also have a variety of courses available to us after the apprenticeship; first aid, driving tow trucks etc.

3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

9/10

The work I do is incredibly interesting and rewarding, it challenges both your body and your mind working on the mechanical systems and I find it always pushes me to new heights. The teams I work with are all friendly and supportive of my needs as an apprentice and all work to help my abilities to expand and develop.

4. How valued do you feel by BAE Systems?

9/10

BAE Systems make sure we are constantly kept in the loop about what is going on especially due to the large shift in services as the Tornado is coming to the end of its life span, they have offered us alternatives for when we finally do have to be relocated and the options are far more than expected.

5. How well organised/structured is your programme?

6/10

The programme is detailed and extensive although the lack of NVQ coordinators is lacking slightly it just pushes us to finish in the small time slots we have given to us by the coordinators.

6a. How much support do you receive from your training provider?

9/10

The first year of our apprenticeship was ran by resource group, they were incredibly helpful and resourceful as they had all their own material which was being updated at the time of our training. On base the training is provided by BAE systems themselves through the NVQ coordinators and Skilsure website.

6b. How much support do you receive from your employer?

9/10

The NVQ coordinators employed by BAE systems are incredibly helpful and supportive and though the may seem to be tough and pushing you hard they do it for a reason and they have the same end goal as us, they want to see us pass and achieve.

7. How well does your salary/package meet your costs?

10/10

In my opinion the salary for our apprenticeship is more than fair and though we do work hard and live away from home the salary more than covers the costs.

8. Are there many opportunities outside of work?

8/10

While I haven't looked into it very much there are plenty of opportunities outside of work to get involved, the RAF base I work on has a huge variety of active activities and clubs available to us.

9a. Would you recommend BAE Systems to a friend? *

Yes

9b. Why? *

They are a massive company, with huge prospects and a great career path for years to come, they have a massive variety of sections to which you can transfer to and between to really get a feel of the business and get an understanding of how it all works.

10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to BAE Systems? *

Work hard, nothing comes free. You have to really commit yourself and show to everyone that you belong here because you are in the limelight when working on the RAF base, you are representing your company in front of the customer.